#i love this palaces music........ i am not immune to piano | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fangirlingnextgen · 7 years

Photo

⤛ t h e r o y a l t o u r g u i d e ⤜

- Galice -

“Do you like grilled cheese?” he asks once we’re in the kitchen and I almost laugh.

“Cheese, in general, is appreciated.”

He chuckles back, walking over to the cabinets, and then, fridge to get what he needs. I watch his back leaning on the counter. Part of me still wonders why he’s even hanging out with me, what we’re even doing, but I needed the distraction.

Even now my hand absently touches the cast around my arm. I know Dante feels guilty sometimes when he sees me, which should be enough to remind me he cares–that all of those intrusive thoughts are nothing but that, intrusive–yet doubt still lingers on the corners of my mind. What if the maids are still right about me? That’s the reason Fitz almost found me crying in the hallway in the first place.

I replace the thoughts with hunger and keep the conversation going. “How good are you? Because I’m very demanding about grilled cheese.”

He smiles, beginning to work on our food, “I’ll do my best miss.”

For some reason, the word “miss” sounds different coming from his lips. Polite and formal as he is, yet still sweet somehow. Of course, it’s a stupid feeling. It’s just a word and it can’t possibly be important to him in any way. He’s just not used to using my name.

I peek over his shoulder to see him work and I think I see his shoulders tense as he focuses on the cooking. It’d be awkward if I stepped back abruptly though, so I keep watching, just shifting slightly and hoping it doesn’t really bother him.

“Uh- Almost done..” he says and I step back to go for two plates.

“Smells like it.”

Am I making him nervous? I shake my head at the thought as I walk back to him and place the plates next to the pan to put a sandwich on each one. After, I take them both to the counter and sit down to examine my own. I poke it to feel how crusty the bread is and he leans on the counter to reach for his sandwich and take a bite, “I’m not poisoning you.”

“Shush, it’s part of the inspection,” I mumble, opening the two lids of the sandwich to see the melting cheese slowly stretching. It looks as good as it smells. I pick it up and softly crush it under my fingers before finally taking a bite. He shakes his head, grinning. “Not dead yet I see…Damn, it didn’t work.”

“I must be immune.” I smile, both at his joke and how good this grilled cheese actually is. Mom would love him for this sandwich.

“Really? Hmm… Interesting…because only some are strong enough to be immune.”

I follow his game and say, “Are you implying I’m special?”

“You’re not gonna imply that yourself,” he says, taking another bite from his food, almost sounding like a complaint.

I shrug. “I’m just your average, everyday royal.”

“Yeah sure,” he chuckles.

“Was that sarcasm?”

“So you’re not too average to notice that? Could it be, you’re not average at all?”

“Wow, I recognize sarcasm.” I say, rolling my eyes, yet smiling, “what a trait to define non-averageness.”

“That’s not all but..” he shakes his head, stopping himself and part of me wonders what else he could mean. “Take it or leave it, Princess.”

He finishes his sandwich and goes to wash his plate at the sink, I follow suit a few minutes later, asking for him to give me the sponge so I can clean mine. Instead of doing that, however, he takes the plate to wash it himself.

“You don’t have to-” I begin but he stops me with a nod at the towel nearby, smirking.

“Don’t worry, you can dry them.”

“Oh…fair enough then.”

I take the towel and it reminds me of visiting uncle David. Washing plates at his house always ends up with some sort of improvised musical number. Thinking of that I end up humming softly and swaying slightly as I dry the first dish and when Fitz hands me the second one a few seconds later I notice a smile on his lips before he clears his throat and corrects himself.

“So uh…We can cross kitchen off the tour.”

“I’d say so yes. What do you want to see next?” I ask when I’m done drying the second dish and placing it back where it goes. He shrugs before taking a little bow.

“You’re the tour-guide miss.”

I’m unable to stop myself from giggling at the word for some reason now. His bow isn’t a sign of respect, but a somewhat endearing gesture for a joke. I realize maybe that’s what he’s trying to do. Cheer me up. The question is: why?

I try to pick our next spot for the tour at the same time my head tries to figure out an answer to that pressing question. When I finally settle with the music room he gestures for me to walk in front of him with a smile.

“Lead the way.”

I open the doors dramatically and let him get a glimpse inside.

“This is it!”

Taking a look around, he smiles at me and says, “My guess is you like this place.”

I can’t hold back a smirk as I get in the room filled with instruments. Dad has never been into music like mom’s family is, but he always told us when we were younger it was the room with the best acoustics in the palace. Fitz isn’t wrong, this space does hold a lot of memories. Sometimes I still come here by myself to enjoy the silence before I enjoy the decent enough music I can play.

“My mom has always loved music. It used to be an important part of her life before she married Dad.. and even after marrying. In a way, we all grew up with the fascination for it too, even if we didn’t indulge in it.”

“You play anything?” he asks with a head tilt.

“I think pretty much all of us know how to play the piano.”

“The whole family?” He seems amazed by the fact. “That’s impressive.”

“Thanks. Collin prefers listening to music over playing it and Adara is a better singer than a musician–though you can’t tell anyone about that– but I guess managing to get four kids to learn how to play is still impressive.”

“How about you? What do you prefer?”

“I love feeling the beat and melody, be it while playing or listening. Both have gratifying aspects to them… But since I’m usually busy with other things I listen more than play.”

He nods at the piano. “We can pause the tour for a short time maybe? Will you-uh..will you play something for me?”

I blink in surprise. No one’s ever asked me that. No one outside of my family that is. “You want to hear me play?” I notice Fitz blushes even more at the question. Great, you’re making him uncomfortable. He’s just being nice. To fix it I quickly add with a nervous smile, “I mean… sure, we can do that.”

It seems he regrets making the suggestion, awkwardly replying, “You don’t have to..I just thought since- well, I just thought it would be nice?”

“It’s okay!“ I say, too quickly. "Don’t worry about it. It is.”

As I walk over to the piano I do tell him I’m not the best and point out there’s not much I can do with only one hand, but he brushes my concern aside with a smile as he leans on the piano and points out he can’t play at all.

It makes me a bit nervous even if I’ve played in public before. I’m not sure if it’s the usual pressure I feel or something else, because of him. Either way, I place my hand on the piano without giving it much more thought and take a deep breath. I pray not to mess up too bad. It’ll be a bit harder to play with only one hand if I’m mostly relying on muscle memory–not using both hands could make me mix up. Still, I start the simple melody with my right hand, ignoring my fear and repeating the same three notes over and over again in the right rhythm.

B, C#, F#.

I skip some of the repetitions of that to get further into the song since at the beginning the right hand only repeats those same notes. I bite my lip to focus on what my other hand would normally do, a way to remember the correct hand movements for the one limb I’m using. Eventually, I sway my head to the melody, slightly nodding to myself as I hit the right keys and pace.

I make a few mistakes with it, I’m sure, but I don’t stop. When I glance briefly at my one-man audience I see Fitz smiling with his eyes closed, enjoying the song even if it’s incomplete. I’m glad his eyes are closed because I feel warmth rise up my cheeks as I stare back at my hand. I feel his eyes on me again a while later, but don’t dare meet his gaze as I play the last part of the song, my hand jumping to different keys quickly before returning to the first three notes.

“That was awesome!” He claps with a wide smile and I blush even more, my ears feeling warm soon enough. Out of habit, I place a strand of hair behind my ear, even if I should hide how red it probably is. I won’t stop myself from thanking him with a shy smile though. “Glad you liked it.”

He only stares at me for another beat, like he realized something great, but then he shakes his head and clears his throat. “Yeah, it was cool. You should find more time to play instead of giving all these tours miss.”

I laugh, ignoring the heat in my face. “Maybe I should, but then I wouldn’t have any spectators.”

“That’s a good point yes.” He scratches the back of his head, awkwardly. “Since you will be a famous pianist someday… do you- Could I uh, call you by your real name?”

He seems so uncertain of what my answer will be it’s almost cute. “I doubt I’ll be famous, but you can call me by name, I really don’t mind…you do know my name, right?”

“Yes!” He smiles brightly and I tilt my head, smiling back at his sudden enthusiasm for something so simple. In his normal voice, he adds, “Yes, Galice.”

I’m not sure why I feel that relentless blush still creeping up my cheeks at what just happened, it’s not like it was that important, but it feels like so. “Yes. Some people call me Gal, but either is fine with me.”

“I’ll just try if I can get the formal things like ‘miss’ and 'Princess’ out,” he chuckles.

“That would be good,” I grin, but part of me also wonders if I want him to stop calling me ‘miss’ occasionally. I’m pretty sure I like how it sounds now.

He shifts on his feet and I notice his cheeks turn a soft red as well. “Great…So uh, what’s next?”

I only stare at him for a moment in silence as he places his hands behind his back and avoids my gaze. My mind still refuses the idea of me making him nervous, but it feels like that’s what’s happening. I clear my throat and say, “Uh… There’s the gym. I do fencing there.”

“Good, good, let’s uh let’s go there.”

I stand up probably a bit too quickly and laugh awkwardly, knowing my blush won’t leave soon. “Off we go then.”

When I head for the door I look over my shoulder to make sure he is following and indeed he is, but for some reason, he frowns at the floor like he’s trying to solve a puzzle and mutters, “Yes, off we go..”

“So..” I search for something to fill the silence. “Do you like what you’ve seen so far?”

“Eh…yeah sure. I uh- haven’t been out of my room enough I notice.”

“Weren’t you curious?”

“Not as far as the kitchen and library?” He smiles again, sheepishly. I laugh.

“Only the important things must be considered, I see. You should explore more often.” I nudge him playfully before staring back ahead, sure my blush definitely won’t leave if I keep this up.

Fitz scoffs softly, but not actually offended. “Why? I’m doing fine now.”

“Hmm, true, you got a royal to give you the tour. A smart guy like I said before.” He chuckles. “No, I mean- yes, but I did not mean to…”

“You won’t fool me!” I cut him off teasingly and he shakes his head.

“No, I- You are just-… A good tour guide.”

“So you admit you picked me to be your tour guide?”

He smiles sadly. “Guilty.”

I nudge him again. “I’m just joking.”

“Yeah, I know.. I just wanted to cheer you I guess.”

Means I was right. I look away at the realization, unsure of why it makes me more flustered. “Oh, I uh, t-thanks…That’s really nice of you…”

He clears his throat, coughing. “Yeah well, it’s no big deal… So uh you do fencing a lot then?

“I like fencing with my siblings. They’re a lot better than me though,” I admit after clearing my throat too.

“You’re fighting with swords and you’re still standing, you can’t be that bad?”

We smirk at each other before I correct him. “Not swords. Foils.”

“Swords makes it sound cooler,” he says, waving a hand in dismissal, “take advantage of that miss- Gal.”

I roll my eyes ignoring the smile that tugs at my lips as he finally uses my name. “Of course, we wouldn’t like to diminish its coolness,” I ask then if he practices any sport and apparently working at the docks is the closest thing to a workout he can think of. “Docks, huh? How’s that?”

“Fishy,” he smirks and I narrow my eyes at him.

“I’m seriously asking now.”

“Okay okay.” He puts his hands up in surrender. “It’s fine. The people work hard and are friendly, even if I’d love to improve the hygiene, and it pays.”

“Hmm, hygiene how?”

“Diseases spread easily, especially at a place like the docks. The people there mostly didn’t get educated during the times of the castes and don’t really know about health.”

“Oh..” I stare at the hallway. “Yeah… That’s sad to hear. It’s too bad we can’t fix everything as quickly as one would hope.” But dad still works on it every day with other councilmen, that I know. A million projects can be made to improve what was ruined with years of the caste system. It sadly can’t be as fast as one would hope, however.

As we walk his hand brushes softly against mine and I feel all my senses come to life, suddenly aware of everything around me. I try to not give it importance even if I’m sure my ears are bright red, but Fitz is quick to put both hands behind his back after that.

You’re embarrassing him, Gal, stay away.

I push the thought aside so it won’t get the better of me and focus on his next words. “Not everything is the responsibility of the Palace. People like to blame them so they don’t have to take action themselves.” He frowns a little, staring at the hallway too and I’m a bit intrigued by that.

“Usually people don’t think that.”

“Royals are merely human too,” he says with a sweet smile and that makes appreciation flourish in my chest. Not everyone remembers that always. Not even our staff.

“Thank you.”

“Oh I didn’t mean you,” he teases, a grin on his face now. “You’re a tour guide, that’s a whole other level.”

I let a giggle escape me as I reply, “Right, I’m special. Almost forgot.”

Can’t be sure if he finds my giggling amusing or it’s something else, but he keeps smiling. I hope for a good reason.

“Don’t you dare forget it, miss.”

“Galice, remember?” I correct.

“Right, right! Sorry, I’ll get it.”

p [gonna write the arm stuff soon] ↛ n [the rest of galitz tour]

#rip ok here it is now #galice #galitz #fitz

1 note · View note